UF police cleared in Tasering

Thursday

Oct 25, 2007 at 12:25 AM

An FDLE report says Andrew Meyer planned a 'show' at the Kerry event.

By JACK STRIPLINGSun staff writer

Two University of Florida police officers who Tasered a student at a recent political forum were justified in their actions, according to a report released Wednesday by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Andrew Meyer, a 21-year-old UF student, was pinned to the ground by six UF Police officers and Tasered when he refused to be physically removed from a Sept. 17 town hall forum with U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. The officers tried to remove him after he used vulgar language while questioning Kerry.

According to the report, the officers had not intended to arrest Meyer initially, but did so when he resisted and subsequently Tasered him when he refused to be handcuffed.

The report says the officers acted "well within" state guidelines that allow for Tasering when a person is resisting.

Sgt. Eddie King, who ordered the Tasering, and Officer Nicole Mallo, who Tasered Meyer, have been on paid administrative leave since shortly after the incident. The two have now been reinstated, according to a statement released Wednesday by UPD Chief Linda Stump.

"As more information has come to be known as to the circumstances surrounding the event, we continue to support our officers who made difficult decisions during the quickly evolving disruption of the event," Stump said in a news release.

The Tasering of Meyer at the Kerry forum sparked what became an international phenomenon, with media outlets and Internet sites broadcasting video of the incident. Video parodies have been posted on YouTube, and Meyer's infamous line "Don't Tase Me Bro" has been plastered on T-shirts, hats, mouse pads and even thong underwear.

The event sparked public outrage among those who thought police used excessive force.

The report released Wednesday also provides a detailed analysis of Meyer's actions leading up to his arrest and subsequent Tasering. According to the report, Meyer refused to follow the instructions of officials with Accent, a UF student-run speakers bureau that hosted the event. The report states that Accent officials summoned a police officer because Meyer became "loud" and "disruptive" when he was told there was not time for him to ask a question of Kerry.

Other audience members also were told they could not ask questions, and "although disappointed, (they) complied and took their seats," according to the report.

In an interview with The Sun, however, another student audience member recounted that she, too, was asked to sit down but did not because Kerry appeared to be happy to continue taking questions. The student, Clarissa Jessup, said she had never met Meyer but agreed to film him with his own camera as he asked Kerry a series of questions. Jessup later provided the video to national media outlets.

Apart from detailing the events that led to Meyer's Tasering, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement suggests Meyer had planned to act out during the campus political event. Meyer told a friend a week before the event that he would put on a show when Kerry came to UF, according to a witness who says he overheard the conversation.

The conversation took place on Sept. 11, according to the report, on a day when Meyer approached a student group on campus that was supporting former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign.

"Giuliani supporters had an interaction with (Meyer) in the Plaza of the Americas which resulted in (Meyer) allegedly kicking their candidate's signs. (Meyer's) behavior was characterized by witnesses as boisterous and provocative," the report says.

Meyer then proceeded to have a "heated exchange" with a female student who disagreed with Meyer's actions or views, the report says.

According to the report, Meyer then told an unnamed friend that, "If he liked what he had seen, referencing the verbal exchange/confrontation he had with the female student, that he should go to the Kerry speech and he would really see a show."

The alleged exchange between Meyer and the unidentified friend was reported to the department in an interview with Edward Hutson, a groundskeeper at UF who was on the Plaza of the Americas that day. Efforts to reach Hutson were unsuccessful.

The 17-page report released Wednesday is an executive summary of a full report of about 300 pages that includes multiple audio and video files. That report has still not been released, pending redactions of student information that UF officials say must be removed to comply with student privacy laws.

Robert Griscti, Meyer's attorney, said he had not had an opportunity to view the full report and was reluctant to comment because of that. Even so, Griscti took issue with the report's suggestion that Meyer may have plotted in advance to provoke a police response.

"I would say very clearly that I am concerned about the sentiment that this was grandstanding and was planned by my client," he said. "It was not."

The stated purpose of the department's investigation of the incident was to determine if officers used excessive force and whether Meyer's actions warranted a physical arrest. Yet, the report begins with the alleged Sept. 11 confrontation, saying that "investigators believed it potentially provides the State Attorney's Office a background or reference into Meyer's mind-set or his pre-disposition to act out in a specific manner at the John Kerry speech." The State Attorney's Office will ultimately decide whether to move forward with a prosecution of Meyer, who is charged with disrupting a public event, a misdemeanor, and resisting arrest with violence, which is a felony.

The State Attorney's Office has yet to file formal charges - a first step toward prosecution - and Meyer's attorney said Wednesday that he's hopeful the matter will be resolved soon.

While the report clears the officers of wrongdoing, it hasn't quelled criticism from some about the use of Tasers on campus. Some students rose up in protest after the event, and some have called on UF President Bernie Machen to end the use of Tasers at UF because they believe they are unsafe. Amnesty International, which issued a statement condemning Meyer's Tasering, says it has recorded more than 290 deaths of Tasered individuals in the U.S. and Canada between 2001 and 2007.

Machen has appointed a task force to examine UF's policies regarding public events, and Machen said Wednesday that "the big issue for this campus is going to be Tasering and whether we want to continue that on campus."

Many who have dissected the Meyer case have questioned his motives, and police reports written shortly after the event suggest Meyer's demeanor changed dramatically when cameras weren't following him.

According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement report, Meyer asked officers "if cameras will be at the jail" while he was in the back of a police car. In front of cameras, while handcuffed in UF's University Auditorium, Meyer had stated that he feared for his life in police custody and asked onlookers to follow him to ensure he wasn't killed.

Once in the Alachua County jail, Meyer made two phone calls to his father, and there was a "great deal of discussion" about the news media coverage of the event, the report states.

"(Meyer) appears to sound elated that the arrest has occurred and at one point states that he is happy this has happened," according to the report.

Reviewing a recorded conversation between Meyer and his father, the department noted that Meyer's father mentioned that NBC News had approached him about Meyer doing an interview with Matt Lauer on the "Today" show.

Meyer has yet to speak publicly about the incident.

Jack Stripling can be reached at 352-374-5064 or Jack.Stripling@gvillesun.com.

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